Letters to the Editor Feb. 19, 2014

Like many of us you may have that overwhelming desire to do more, to volunteer, to help where help is needed, I want to invite you to do exactly that.

We at Coastal Home Health & Hospice are searching for community members who want to roll up their sleeves and get busy. We are in need of several volunteers to sit on our Board of Directors and our Hospice Advisory Committee.

Our Board of Directors meets monthly to discuss and implement procedures crucial to the direction of Coastal Home Health & Hospice. Our Hospice Advisory Committee meets once a quarter to oversee the policies that relate directly to end-of-life care for our patients and their families. Each committee member is asked to make a two year commitment.

You can be a part of the important decisions being made at Coastal, knowing your contributions are making an impact in our community.

If you are interested in either of these opportunities, please call Rosie Hoxeng at 541-247-7084.

Kathy Chassereau, Board president

Coastal Home Health & Hospice

Gold Beach

Flag not just cloth

I noticed when The Brookings Inn Resort / Flying Gull closed their doors several months ago, the American flag was left hanging on the building.

The “Flag Code” adopted in 1944 states if the flag is up 24 hours it should be illuminated and if the condition of the flag is poor, it should be removed and destroyed.

I don’t know who is responsible for the building right now, so I aired my concerns to the VFW; they agreed, and went to the city about this problem. I was told they would “take care of it.”

That was over three weeks ago, the flag is still there 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It would only take 10 minutes to remove it or turn the light back on.

Come on people, it is more than just a piece of fabric; let’s show some respect to our flag and what it still stands for. Thank you

Our membership continues to make us the largest VVA/AVVA combined chapter in the State of Oregon.

One of our recent community activities was security at Azalea Park during the Christmas Light Festival. The Chapter would like to thank Bryan Tillung and the Rotary Club for their $1500 donation for our work.

I would also like to talk about the homeless veterans. In January, 2012 there were 62,600 homeless veterans in America, according to a VA survey. That’s more than all those whose names are engraved on The Wall, enough men and women to fill out five divisions.

Five divisions abandoned by their countrymen. Men and women who are homeless, sometimes from a run of bad luck but often as a direct result of their service — service that left many with traumatic brain injuries, flashbacks, and PTSD, and the resulting drug and alcohol abuse. None of which endears them to non-veterans. None of which makes it easy to get off the streets. It’s a national disgrace!